FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – The last player on Bethpage Black early Friday evening was Rory McIlroy. After two TV interviews, he returned to the 18 th green to repair the indentation made by his putter flip when his final birdie putt, at the end of a long and largely successful day, had somehow slid by the cup.

There hadn’t been many misses on this day, by McIlroy or any of his European teammates, and they headed into the night staked to a 5 1/2-to-2 ½ lead. That isn’t insignificant; it’s the first time that Europe has led at the end of Day 1 on American soil since 2004. Data Golf’s analytics team has given the Europeans more than a 70% chance to either win or retain the cup. But McIlroy’s 11-foot miss helped the U.S. salvage what had otherwise been a miserable day.

As McIlroy departed the gre

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